The Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership aims to preserve, protect and enhance the estuarine resources in coastal communities of southern New Hampshire and Maine. Each month, the organization chooses a “Clean Water Champion” from those people who work to make a difference in their watershed.

Schier is a founding member of AWWA, a grass-roots organization that began in 2006 with a goal of protecting and restoring water quality in Acton and the neighboring town of Wakefield, New Hampshire. Begun as a group of volunteers, AWWA quickly expanded to include a Youth Conservation Corps that hired local youth to install stormwater erosion-control procedures on properties in both towns.

As AWWA’s influence grew, the organization decided to hire an executive director and a technical and program director. Schier, who had recently completed a Master’s degree in Environmental Education at the University of New Hampshire, got the job.

Schier was “a logical choice to fill the ... position,” AWWA stated in a press release. “Her enthusiasm and passion for protecting water quality has greatly influenced decisions by town officials, lake associations, private road associations, and many landowners, and has increased public awareness and willingness to take steps to protect a very valuable natural resource.”

As a result of her efforts, Schier has brought grant money into Acton and Wakefield, which has enabled work to proceed on local roads, ultimately reducing stormwater erosion from entering the lakes and streams. The resulting cleaner lake water benefits all the residents recreationally, financially and aesthetically.

One of Schier’s passions is working with children, and she has stepped up AWWA’s contributions to local students by complementing classroom work in both Wakefield and Acton schools. She and Program Director Dustin Johnson have visited the Paul School and Acton Elementary School to work with science teachers and their students in the laboratory, the field and even aboard the Gundalow “Piscataqua.”

To learn more about Linda and her passion for water activities, visit the PREP link to the November issue of “Downstream” at http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs186/1108194123690/archive/1111421325811.html.